Convergence

Well, this post comes via a 3G network, using my Nokia E61.

I’ll write more about this device soon. It does so much more than my Blackberry – better sound, wifi connectivity, VOIP calls, lovely big screen and pretty decent keyboard, to name a few – but some aspects are noticeably more flaky or obscure.

I had my Blackberry up & running and doing what I wanted very quickly, whereas I’ve been playing with this device all weekend and still haven’t quite got it as I want it. But that’s partly because there is so much more you can do with this… I didn’t spend much time configuring my BB to connect to my Asterisk server via wifi, for example! But the BB is basically an enhanced phone, where this is a very capable PDA, almost a tiny laptop, with a whole new operating system to learn – Symbian, in this case, which I’m much happier to have on my phone than anything from Redmond.

The main reason I wanted to try the E61 was to get 3G connectivity for my laptop, and it does that very nicely. It’s also better for doing blog posts from the breakfast table!
But for general ease of use, it’s hard to beat a Blackberry.

Enjoyed this post? Why not sign up to receive Status-Q in your inbox?

3 Comments

Hi Q,

Tell me if I’m missing something subtle, but why can’t you “blog from the breakfast table” just by using wifi like any other normal geek?

Frank – yes, I was a little unclear. It wasn’t the 3G that was better for blogging, but the device, with its nicer keyboard and screen.

This reply comes to you via wifi…

Ah, right! Since you were talking of giving 3G connectivity to your laptop, I assumed you meant updating the blog *from the laptop* at the breakfast table, and couldn’t see the point of using 3G for that. I wouldn’t have expected you NOT to use a real keyboard if you were still at home having breakfast.

As for blogging from the mobile phone, that has been a big thing in Japan for at least the past 3 years: they call it MOBLOGging. You visit a nice place with someone, they take plenty of pics with their camera phone, then on the way back you see them thumbing away frantically on the keypad, you ask them what’s up, and they’re just updating their moblog…
They had real email on their phones for years while we still only had SMS here.

Got Something To Say:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

To create code blocks or other preformatted text, indent by four spaces:

    This will be displayed in a monospaced font. The first four 
    spaces will be stripped off, but all other whitespace
    will be preserved.
    
    Markdown is turned off in code blocks:
     [This is not a link](http://example.com)

To create not a block, but an inline code span, use backticks:

Here is some inline `code`.

For more help see http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax

*

© Copyright Quentin Stafford-Fraser